catch some prey [open].

[Halfstar]

Her pads fell silently against the forest's ground, her ears detecting sound while she moved forward, leading Quakeclaw and Swiftheart. Though she had been pleased by being allowed to lead this hunting group, she wouldn't have minded if Swiftheart had leaded instead, she was the Senior warrior and much more experienced. She sniffed the air, a small twinkle in her eye. There was the scent of prey in the air, despite the snow and the cold. Some of their prey were being risky and that would lead up to their death and would be food to the clan. She turned to the two warriors, "We should split up and meet back here." She meowed, looking more towards Swiftheart, seeing if anything she said would need to be "fixed" one way or another by the Senior warrior.

[Thistlestar]

Swiftheart nodded without question, but added,
"Fine idea; Quakeclaw go along with Echostorm. I'll meet you all back..." she paused, looking around the skeleton pines. She nodded towards the one that had lost a branch to the heavy weight of the snow and was lying on the ground by its trunk. "Here, at this tree by sunhigh."
It was natural for Swiftheart to command; even more of a false suggestion that she should be leader, or at least deputy. She did not know how many times she had to explain to others that she was content with her lot. She had absolutely no desire to lead, except in patrols and hunting parties. Some cats were just so hungry for power that they had no way to understand the concept that not everyone can be a leader; a leader has to have creatures to lead after all.
Nodding to Quakeclaw and Echostorm, Swiftheart padded off through the trees, nose sniffing the air, silent as the falling snow.

[*QUAKE---claw]

Quakeclaw looked at where Swiftheart disappeared for a long moment, silent. He then shook himself out of his sudden surprise at her abrupt departure and turned to Echostorm.
"Lead the way," he said, trying to e courteous.

[Halfstar]

She nodded in response to Swiftheart's words as she looked back at Quakeclaw, who was looking where Swiftheart had left, snow piling up on it and silently watched with an amused twitch of her whiskers when he turned to her. "Ah, I see we're stuck with each other for some time." She purred with amusement as she turned towards the opposite way their senior warrior had gone. "We'll take turns leading the way." She meowed, twisting her head back to look at the Tom than back in front of her, narrowly missing the bush in front of her. She almost hissed with surprise but kept it back and sniffed the air, immediately stopping and halted Quakeclaw with her tail. Crouching she silently moved across the forest floor before springing down upon the vole before a squeak was able to come out of it's mouth she bit it's neck, alive it had been, in the snow, alive no longer. She dug into the snow, putting it under both snow and dirt, it would be somewhat harder to find but she'd find it again. She looked back towards Quakeclaw, "Your turn." She murmured, loud enough for him to hear but not to loud.

[*QUAKE---claw]

Quakeclaw watched appreciatively at Echostorms quick lock-on of the small heartbeat and scent of the vole that hid in the snow-frosted bushes.
Nodding to her allowence of his turn, he walked silently as he could a bit away from where Echostorm had killed the vole. She may have no made that much noise in the kill, but still any prey that had been nearby was hiding much more successfully now.
But he didn't have to go too far from her kill spot. About twenty careful pawsteps away, did the scent of squirrel waft to his nose and his keen ears located its heartbeat and small scrapping noises in the leafy-underearth. He looked to his left, around a bush and saw the squirrel digging around by a long-ago fallen tree trunk, oblivious to its hunter. Soon, Quakeclaw was padding back to Echostorm and burying the good-sized animal next to her vole.

[Halfstar]

She watched silently as he made his kill, a squirrel, even in leaf-bare. She purred softly as he dug his prey and put it next to hers. That would feed the clan somewhat, better than the vole she had caught. Flicking with her tail once more, she traveled on, not straying to far from the killed prey but enough away from where she and Quakeclaw had killed their prey. More were starting to hide, as if they could feel death hang in the air. She sniffed the air silently, smelling another vole and killed quickly and silently. She doubted they were going to find much now, it was leaf-bare, by now many of the prey were alert of them being there and hunting, food was scarce and only the needy and hungry would dare make their way out into the open forest floor.